“It’s not laziness or lack of will.
“If you have a different brain, you have to use it differently.”
A psychiatrist who lived his whole life with the thought, "Oh, that's right!"
Finding Ways to Live with ADHD

The author, a psychiatrist and ADHD sufferer, reflects on his own life and discovers realistic and heartwarming ways to live with distraction.
The child who always dropped things and change grew up to be a doctor who shouted 'Oh, right!' every day.
And later on, he comes to accept that his clumsiness was due to ADHD.
Through this book, the author suggests a way of living by understanding ADHD not as a “defect to overcome” but as a “disposition that can be lived with.”
It provides specific daily practices that can be used in conjunction with medication, providing practical guidance to both readers considering a diagnosis of ADHD and those already diagnosed and experiencing trial and error.

“Even I, who am distracted, have my own rhythm.”
Understand your confused mind and break free from self-reproach and comparison.
A guide for all 'ADHD brains' who want to live their own way.

I tried to brush it off, thinking that it was just me being clumsy like my mother, but as I grew up, it started to become a problem.
When I couldn't focus on one thing for a long time, kept losing small things, and kept missing things I had to do, I couldn't just laugh it off as a "cute mistake" anymore.
As I embarked on a career as a doctor, which requires meticulousness, I absolutely had to figure out why I was so clumsy.
After a long time, I found the answer called 'ADHD'.
That was a huge turning point in my life.
It was like finding a puzzle piece I had been searching for for a long time and finally fitting it into place.

--- p.23

I could have ADHD! I felt a sense of relief that the mistakes I'd made weren't necessarily my fault, but at the same time, I felt a surge of anxiety that they were just excuses.
Because I felt like someone was going to point at me and say, “He’s just pretending to have ADHD to make excuses.”
So at first, I just kept putting off the test day after day.
Instead, I pulled myself together again and tried to do a good job.
But regardless of my will, the result was the same, and the pattern of forgetting one thing at a time when it seemed important was repeated.
Eventually, I decided that I couldn't just leave this problem alone.
It may seem trivial, but I felt like if I didn't solve these chronic 'forgetting', 'hesitating', and 'procrastinating' that were causing me trouble in various aspects of my daily life, I would have to live my whole life with not only the nickname 'Ah, right', but also the nickname 'regret'.

--- p.32

The behavior of people with ADHD has a variety of characteristics that cannot be simply defined by the word “distracted.”
It is most important to understand yourself and find balance within it.
For example, an attitude that easily understands and helps others' emotions is a great asset in fields where human communication is important, such as counseling, education, and customer service.
The great energy you have in your passion can also be the driving force behind proposing and pursuing creative ideas in dynamic environments like startups or project-based work.

--- p.106

Several studies have reported that people with ADHD have characteristics such as high resilience and deep engagement in addition to rich creativity.
Thanks to this, problem-solving skills are also excellent.
Behind our carelessness and distraction, there was hidden the potential for flexibility and uniqueness to blossom, lightly crossing the boundaries of thought.

--- p.112

What if we thought of an ADHD diagnosis as a signal?
It's a sign that I'm ready to deal with my own characteristics more comfortably. The keyword "ADHD" will give me a clue to aspects of myself I've previously overlooked.

--- p.113

Don't try to punish yourself.
Instead, if we focus on finding ways to move on to the next step, the "language of self-blame" will naturally decrease and the "language of resolution" will take root within us.

--- p.117